Page 47 of No Shot (The Toronto Tundra #2)

Penn

Reid arrived this morning with the Vortex. I grabbed a coffee with him before he checked into the hotel and headed off to practice with the team. It was nice having some one-on-one time, and he sounded happy, telling me all about Vancouver and the cool spots he ’ s been exploring.

I ’ m still sad Toronto didn ’ t pan out for him, but he seems in his element out there. It ’ s hard not to be happy for him.

My parents flew in this afternoon. They haven ’ t seen me in four months, and what was the first thing they said to me, you ask?

‘ Where ’ s Bridgette? ’ It ’ s like I ’ m chopped liver around here.

The entire drive to their hotel, my mom was asking question after question about my girl.

I should be annoyed… I mean, her favorite and wildly good-looking son picks her up at the airport, and all she wants to talk about is his new girlfriend?

Unfortunately, though, zero percent of me was irked.

One, because my mother is a saint and two, Bri is now my favorite topic.

“ You ’ re quiet.” I look over at Bri, who ’ s sitting rigidly in the passenger side of my car.

She ’ s in a quintessential Bri outfit. Black boots with the little heels on them, dark tights, a black plaid skirt, and a charcoal gray sweater.

My sexy little librarian in her purest form.

She looks lost, though, as she stares down at her legs, barely acknowledging me.

“ I ’ m nervous,” she admits. The vulnerability in her voice tugs at something deep in me. I reach over to grab her hand. It shakes as I lace my fingers through hers.

“ Why?” Tonight should be pretty casual—my family is very go with the flow.

“ I ’ ve never met someone ’ s parents before.” What?

“ Ever?” I ask.

“ Well, I ’ ve met parents, but not like uh, a romantic partner ’ s parents. You ’ re the first.” Ohh . I ’ m surprised, but another part of me thrums with pride—because I ’ m the only one who gets to show her off. The first and last.

My eyes flick to hers. Her hesitant gaze meets mine for just a second before dropping back down. I ’ m not used to seeing anything but my confident and brave girl. I rub the top of her soft hand with my thumb.

“ I-I don ’ t know if this is normal.”

“ Of course it is,” I assure her. “ It ’ s normal to feel a little nervous, but you don ’ t have to be.”

She lets go of my hand, rubbing her palms down her skirt to flatten the non-existent creases. “ I couldn ’ t sleep last night.”

“ How come?”

“ Because of this.” I turn to her, confused.

“ Things that make me nervous… quizzes, exams, new things, sometimes something so little it doesn ’ t even make sense that I ’ m worrying.

But I do.” She takes a tiny, disappointed breath.

She has my full attention. My heart aches at the way she ’ s finally letting me in—this is big for her—she ’ s opening up.

“ Sometimes it feels like my body is breaking down, and no matter what I do, I can ’ t control it. It just overtakes me.”

“ Have you ever thought about talking to someone about it? A therapist? Or maybe there ’ s something you can take to help. There ’ s medicine now, you know, for people with anxiety—” I rack my brain for solution after solution. I can help her. I want to help her.

“ No,” she blurts out, shaking her head. “ Sorry, I don ’ t know why I said anything.” There she goes, retreating back into the cave she never seems to let me into. “ I ’ m sorry. I ’ m just tired. Forget I said anything. I ’ m all good… just a bit nervous.”

I try to mask my sigh. I know her well enough to decipher when she ’ s hit her limit.

She opened up about as much as she can. A few seconds of getting to see the raw Bridgette, the one who allows herself to be vulnerable.

I get these little glimpses more and more, but it ’ s because I let her take it at her own speed.

I follow her cues; she only reveals what she feels comfortable sharing, and then she closes off.

A delicate ebb and flow that I ’ ve been patiently witnessing—studying.

It ’ s how I know, now is not the time to push her.

We pull up to a stoplight, and I turn to her. She needs comfort. She's not ready to be questioned or presented with my solutions. “ They ’ re going to love you, Soup. I promise.”

My hands rise to bracket her face. Her cheeks burn beneath my fingertips.

A hot, uncomfortable thrumming under the surface—like her skin is on fire.

That ’ s not normal, I know something is wrong.

I try to push down the concern clawing at my chest with another breath.

It doesn ’ t matter that I want to say something, to fix it, or make it easier for her—she ’ s already overwhelmed—I won ’ t add to her stress.

Bri shifts in her seat, pulling my hands off her face, giving me a surface-level smile that doesn ’ t reach her eyes. “ I ’ m good,” she assures me.

She ’ s lying.

***

“ Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” My mom squeals as she rushes toward us.

“ Mom, please.” I try to signal for her to take a chill pill, but she just shoos me off. “ Seriously, what are you doing out here?”

We haven ’ t even made it inside the pub, and yet, here my mother is, standing outside on the sidewalk, ready to ambush.

“ Oh… um, I wanted some fresh air, of course.” My mom is about as good a liar as Pinocchio.

“ Ya-huh,” I reply, pulling her into a hug. I just saw her a few hours ago, but I figured I ’ d let her get her hugging energy out before she moves on to Bri. “ Mom, this is—”

“ Bridgette!” She practically shoves me away, opening her arms to Bri.

“ Mom,” I try to whisper scold, but Bri squeezes my arm, giving me a reassuring look before going in for a hug. I can see how hard my mom is squishing her, but she doesn ’ t seem to mind. Over my girl ’ s shoulder, Mom opens her eyes wide and mouths, “ love her” to me.

See? I knew it wouldn ’ t take much. Holding open the door, I follow Mom and Bri inside. The old Irish pub is definitely on theme with the dark wood all around. We walk over to the set of small high-tops toward the end of the room, close to the bar.

Jack and Mia are already here, sitting at the table next to Reid and my dad. All of them look up at the same time, and Bri falters back for a second, nervous eyes flashing to me.

Before I have a chance to soothe her, Mia rushes to her side. I watch as she wraps her into a side hug and whispers, “ Ooou, I ’ m so happy you ’ re here. Your outfit is stunning.”

Bri holds on a second longer than she usually would. I ’ m glad she ’ s comforted by her friend. I want her to have fun, and anything to help her feel more at peace is a win. Jack offers a wave hello, a greeting Bri returns with a smile.

I grab her hand and move her toward the table where my mom ’ s taken the middle seat. “ Dad, Reid, this is Bridgette.”

“ It ’ s so great to finally meet you,” Reid says. “ We ’ ve heard a lot about you.” He emphasizes it with a conspiratorial look at Jack. My mom elbows his side, and Reid flinches. “ What? He ’ s obsessed with her, we all know that.”

I mean, I ’ d be mad, but he ’ s right. Bri laughs it off, running her other hand over my arm.

“ Lovely to meet you, young lady,” my dad jumps in.

“ It ’ s wonderful to meet you, too. Both of you. Thank you for inviting me to join.”

“ Course, happy to have you,” Reid replies, his usual charm on full display. He claps his hands together, looking at the lot of us. “ So, should we pick teams? I call dibs on Bridg—”

“ Dibs on Bri,” I rush out so fast I barely have a chance to take a breath. For emphasis, I drop her hand, wrapping my arm around her waist to pull her closer.

Fucking, Reid. He ’ s bigger than me, but I am not afraid to brawl him right here, especially if he thinks he gets to spend the night working with my girl.

I glare at him, and he just smiles like the jackass he is.

“ I call Mia,” Jack adds, giving his fiancée a soft smile.

“ You ’ re leaving me with the boomers?!” Reid throws up his hands like we ’ ve just dished out the betrayal of a century. And they say I ’ m the dramatic one in the family.

My mom pats his arm. “ I won ’ t take that personally, dear, but perhaps next time you should bring someone? You know, so you won ’ t be stuck with the boomers.”

My dad chuckles, taking a sip of his beer. Ahh, it ’ s good to have the fam back together.

“ What are the teams for?” Bri whispers up at me.

“ Did I forget to mention? It ’ s trivia night and we ’ re going to win.”

Her surprise is quickly usurped by something else—a look I see her sporting way too often. “ Damn right we are.”

Fuck, I like her so much.

***

So, as a shock to no one, we dominated Trivia night.

Bri and I are now the proud owners of a $50 Visa gift card, so you know, I ’ d say we ’ re doing all right.

It ’ s wild to see how easily she integrated with my family. I know she was nervous, and it took her a while to fully come out of her shell, but as soon as the questions started flying, my girl was ready to go.

What is the value of pi rounded to seven decimal places? I couldn ’ t tell you, but she wrote something down and we got the points.

Some months have 31 days, others have 30. How many have 28? All of them, duh.

How many members are there in the European Union? Apparently, twenty-seven, and my genius girlfriend knew them all.

It was pretty obvious my family was impressed, not only by Bri and her giant brain, but by how well we worked together.

Where she faltered, on some of the sports and theoretical questions, I stepped in.

When I couldn ’ t put two and two together on the logic and fact questions, she crushed it.

We were seriously a dynamic duo; no other team even came close to our score.

I don ’ t know what I expected, really, but holy hell, it felt good to be so in sync with her. Felt a little bit like us against the world, and seeing that competitive gleam in her eyes? Made it nearly impossible for me to keep my hands off her.

My family left a little while after the trivia game concluded—like the sore losers they are—but it ’ s been nice just chatting with Bri as we finish up our drinks.

We were so focused on winning, we didn ’ t have time to talk about anything else.

So, I jumped at the opportunity for a little extra quality time with my Soup.

“ Ready to head home?” I ask as she downs the last sip of her beer.

“ Yep! Just going to zip to the washroom, one second.”

I nod and slide off my seat to help her down. She walks away toward a narrow hallway in the back, and I watch her go, like the deviant I am.

Can you really blame me? She was in her element tonight. It was hot.

After I flag down our waiter and close out our tab, I people-watch for a bit. There are a lot of other couples here. Looks like trivia might be a good date night activity, and we ’ ll definitely be coming back.

A dainty hand grazes the small of my back, catching me off guard, and I tense.

The perfume that circles me is altogether unfamiliar.

Not the subtle and comforting tropical scent I ’ m used to, but instead, a strong waft of florals that feels like an assault to my sinuses. I turn my head to the right.

Oh .

A tall blonde is standing next to our table, giving what I can only imagine is her best attempt at fuck me eyes. “ Leaving already, handsome?”

My eyebrows draw together, lips turning down. “ Yeah, we ’ re heading out. My girlfriend is pretty tired, so I ’ m taking her home.”

The blonde seems unfazed, staring down at my forearm, before drawing her manicured fingernails up it. “ I don ’ t see your girlfriend here, so maybe you and I can have a little fun.”

Not today, trollop! Do people even say trollop anymore? I don ’ t know, but I know I want nothing to do with this. I pull away from her, frowning more. “ I don ’ t think so.”

“ Oh, come on. You, looking like that, are telling me you ’ re loyal to your mousy little girlfriend?” How fucking dare she. She saw Bri and still decided to come over here?

“Respectfully, go away. The only woman I ’ m interested in is the beautiful and brilliant one I came with.” I push my chair back, moving to stand and walk away. A hand brushes against my back, and I feel a breath of calm pulse through me.

“ Everything okay over here?” Bri ’ s voice is chipper, like the customer service one she uses.

The woman scoffs. “ Fine. Your boyfriend and I were just getting acquainted.” I hate the way she says that, so dismissive.

She brushes her hand over me again, completely ignoring the fact that Bri is standing there, and I recoil back out of her reach. Before I have a chance to say anything more, Bri jumps in again.

“ How nice.” The fake-sweetness is dripping with sarcasm. “ Penn, do you have any interest in this trollop?” AHA! People do use it, I fucking knew it.

“ Absolutely not.”

She makes an over-exaggerated sympathetic face toward the blonde. “ Damn, looks like you ’ re out of luck.” Bri stretches her arm out to me, and I jump at the opportunity to hold her hand again. “ Bye!” She waves to the girl with a fake smile.

The blonde moves forward, like she ’ s trying to reach for me again, but Bri pivots in place, holding up her hand to stop her. “ Touch him one more fucking time, I dare you.” This time, it ’ s a vicious warning, laced with edge. Damn, my heart thrums in my chest. I ’ ve never felt so protected.

“ Ugh, desperate much?” The woman crosses her arms, glaring at Bri.

“ Watch your tone when you ’ re speaking about my girlfriend,” I call back. “ And you ’ d do well to listen to her, she fucking bites.”

“ Damn right I do,” Bri whispers under her breath.

With that, we walk out of the pub, hand in hand.

When we reach the car, I hold open her door, then slide into the seat beside her, and start the drive home.

“ I think that went well, right?” Bri ’ s eyes flicker with uncertainty. She needs reassurance.

“ That went really well, Bri. Seriously, full marks.” I wink at her, which earns me an eye roll, but there ’ s the faintest flush on her cheeks.

“ Would you want to spend some time in BC this summer? Reid made it sound so amazing.”

I swallow, trying not to let myself get too excited. “ Like, with me and my family?”

“ Yeah, it could be fun. Then maybe I can show you PEI? After graduation, I ’ ll probably try to take a few weeks off before the job hunt resumes. We could go at the end of your season.”

The smile that breaks free feels like a dam bursting open inside me. A warm rush of happiness, comfort, and safety floods through my body.

It ’ s starting to feel like I can keep her.